


Not Delivered

by Erulisse17



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Biker!Ben, F/M, HEA, Happily Ever After, Next Door Neighbors, Pining, Rose is the best BFF a girl could ask for, a bit of angst, but a bunch of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23355325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erulisse17/pseuds/Erulisse17
Summary: “Look, I just… need to be realistic. It’s not healthy to keep reminding myself of what I can’t have.”Rose frowned. “Is this about your neighbor? Rey, no guy is worth changing everything for. No matter how hot-”An engine’s roar interrupted her as a sleek black Ducati slid into the parking lot. As the motorcycle rolled into the space beside Rey’s car, the large man in a black leather jacket pulled off his helmet to reveal black, wavy hair, a long nose, and piercing amber eyes.“Oh.Damn,”Rose murmured in appreciation.Rey sighed again. “Yeah.”Or, a tale of two neighbors, several realizations, and one undelivered text message
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 28
Kudos: 322





	Not Delivered

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aNerdObsessed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aNerdObsessed/gifts).



> Created for the lovely aNerdObsessed as my contribution to the Wholesome Reylo Discord exchange! Hope you enjoy!

  
Story inspired by this moodboard created by the lovely aNerdObsessed

* * *

“I still don’t understand why you’re moving!” Rose complained amiably as she balanced the box of books on her hip and pressed the button for the ground floor.

Rey sighed. “I just… need a new start.”

The elevator dinged and opened its doors as Rose frowned at her. “See, you keep saying that, but that doesn’t answer my question at all. I thought you liked it here!”

“I do!”

“You said you loved the shops and restaurants and,” here Rose waggled her eyebrows, “the _views.”_

Instead of the sly grin Rose probably expected, Rey couldn’t help a pang of hurt jolt through her chest. Shoving her own box into the car, she muttered, “That’s kind of the problem.”

Instantly alert, Rose propped her free hand on her hip and demanded, “Hang on, what happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Nuh-uh. You’re not making me do the best friend duties of helping you pack without the best friend dish. Spill.”

“Look, I just… need to be realistic. It’s not healthy to keep reminding myself of what I can’t have.”

Rose frowned. “Is this about your neighbor? Rey, no guy is worth changing everything for. No matter how hot-”

An engine’s roar interrupted her as a sleek black Ducati slid into the parking lot. As the motorcycle rolled into the space beside Rey’s car, the large man in a black leather jacket pulled off his helmet to reveal black, wavy hair, a long nose, and piercing amber eyes.

“Oh. _Damn,”_ Rose murmured in appreciation.

Rey sighed again. “Yeah.”

The man scratched his head, fluffing his dark hair, then looked up at he caught sight of Rey. A slight grin tugged at his lips. “Hey.”

Rey managed a weak smile in return. “Hi.”

After glancing between the two of them in poorly concealed amusement, Rose chimed in, “Hello.”

Blinking in surprise, as if he hadn’t even seen her, the man sitting in spot 643 stuttered, “Oh. H-hi… Rey’s friend.”

“Oh, sorry. Ben, this is my friend Rose. Rose, Ben.”

“Rose, you’re the engineering friend, right?”

Flattered that he knew her, Rose nodded. “Yes I am. And you’re the neighbor, right? The IT guy?”

“Product manager, but yeah. Nice to meet you.” His gaze strayed back to Rey, then stopped as he spotted the boxes filling her car. “Are you… moving in?”

“Nope. Helping Rey move out,” Rose announced, then smirked a little at the alarm crossing Ben’s face.

“Wait, you’re moving?” He asked, his eyes locking onto her hazel ones. “Why?”

“I…” She bit her lip before finally answering, “I just need a change of scenery.”

His brows drew together in confusion. “Oh.”

Setting his helmet on his bike, Ben shifted his weight, then offered, “Do you need help?”

“Thanks, but we’re almost done,” Rose replied when Rey had paused too long.

“When are you leaving?”

Rey scuffed her toe on the ground. “Tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?!”

“Well, she’s got to get an early start if she’s going to make it to Salt Lake by nightfall.”

“Salt…” Ben stammered, “Where are you moving to?”

“California. I’ve always thought about living there, and a friend in Sacramento is letting me crash on his couch while I figure stuff out.”

When all he did was stare, Rose tilted her head and asked coyly, “Something wrong?”

“I… no, it’s just,” he trailed off, “...really far.”

Looking up at him, Rey tried a smile. “But don’t worry, I’ve got a loaf of rosemary bread baking upstairs, so I’ll make sure to leave that with you tonight.”

“Right. Yeah. Sounds good. I guess I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow? With coffee? Before you leave?”

“Yeah. Before I leave.”

“Oh. Good. Well, I guess I should-”

“Oh, yeah, me too.”

As he awkwardly crouched down through the door, Rose cast a long, measured look between the two of them then sighed loudly.

_“Girl.”_

Rey waved her hand. “I know, I know.”

“He so obviously likes you!”

Her face fell and she slammed the car door shut. “Yeah. I used to think so too.”

…

**_One Year Ago_ **

Waving away the smoke of her engine, Rey popped open the hood of her rusty Chariot on the side of the busy road and hissed threateningly, “Son of a lousy, rotten-”

“Need help?”

She yelped in surprise as a large black motorcycle helmet curiously peered around the edge of her hood.

“What the hell?” Rey shrieked at him. “You can’t just walk up in a giant helmet to a stranger’s car!”

“Sorry, sorry,” the man pulled off his helmet and hunched his large shoulders sheepishly. “You’re my neighbor, right? 641 at Fisher apartments?”

She blinked, unsure if that made her feel more or less scared. “Ummm…”

“Sorry, I know that probably sounds creepy, but I recognized your car. Not a lot of ‘77 Chariots still running these days.”

“Oh.” Rey figured that was at least a somewhat plausible explanation. And now that she thought about it, she did remember seeing a beautiful Ducati parked next to her red rustbucket the last few months. Leaning around her car, she saw the same black bike propped up next to the bumper.

“I’m Ben. Apartment 643.”

Taking his proffered hand in her greasy one, she nodded in return. “Rey. 641.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with it?”

“Out of coolant. There’s gotta be a leak in the hose somewhere, but I don’t have a patch kit in the car, and-”

“I can give you a ride.”

“Huh?”

“To an auto parts store, if you like. Or call you a Lyft, or…”

“I…” She glanced up and up and up at him - Lord, he was tall. And apparently in earnest. “Alright. You have an extra helmet?” 

Rey appreciated several things about the ride to the store. The first was the ride itself, a gesture of kindness from a very unexpected quarter. The second was the fact that he didn’t try to show off for her by speeding or weaving around cars. And the third, if she was being completely honest with herself, was the smell of his dark leather jacket, the feel of his toned abs beneath her only slightly terrified grip, and how even in her helmet, her head still fit between his shoulders.

After he insisted on buying the patch kit for her, he drove her back and watched her dive into the engine with a slight smile.

“You’re pretty good at this.”

Grunting as she twisted her arm around, she scoffed, “For a girl?”

“For anyone. My dad ran a car shop when I was growing up, and a lot of his techs weren’t near as competent as you.”

She searched his face for a moment, but found only sincerity. Closing the hood, she turned the engine over and let out a relieved sigh as it started with no smoke or angry icons.

“Thanks. For everything.”

He gave her an awkward nod, then popped his helmet back on and rode away with a solitary wave.

That night, she knocked on door 641 and smiled as he opened it with a scowl that quickly turned into surprise.

“Checking my story?” He asked after a beat.

“That, and I wanted to give you this.” Handing him a foil-covered loaf, she explained, “It’s rosemary bread. As a thank you for earlier.”

She watched the tips of his ears turn red as he mumbled, “I… it was the least… No problem.”

The next morning, he tapped politely on apartment 643 and held out a to-go cup as she squinted blearily. “I… there’s a local coffeeshop just down the way that has a great Ethiopian roast and I thought that… I mean, if you drink coffee. They have tea, too, but I didn’t check-”

Taking the cup with a sleepy smile, she tilted her head and noted the red creeping up his ears again. “Thank you, Ben.”

And so it began.

…

“And the reason you’re running away from him is…?”

“I’m not… look, he went away for a business trip for a week and I kinda missed him, so when I heard him get back early, I was going to go talk to him about… things.”

Rose waited impatiently for a moment, then demanded, _“And?_ Then what happened?”

“Then a _very_ gorgeous half-dressed girl answered the door and I fled in panic and later I had to use headphones because they were clearly having a great time,” she snapped finally. “And that answered all of my questions. He clearly only sees me as a friend, or neighbor, or something that is not girlfriend material.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “What a grade-A asshole.”

“He’s not though,” Rey sighed, labeling the last box in Sharpie. “He’s just exploring his options. Which is what I’m going to do. It’s far healthier than seeing him every day and just... _pining_ like some damn Austen heroine.”

Pulling her friend in for a hug, Rose gave her a sympathetic look, then reached for the last items in Rey’s fridge. “How about you and me drink these beers and I’ll tell you about the time Paige’s internet date took her to Ikea?”

…

Pacing in his apartment, Ben stilled as he heard Rose call out “Goodnight!” and quietly close the door next to him, mindful of the late hour.  


As he fiddled with his phone, opening and closing the Messages app for the umpteenth time, he finally gathered his courage.

There. Simple enough.

Her response was almost immediate.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to sound casual and not-at-all desperate as he sent the next line.

He wondered if she meant to sound regretful, or if he was reading his own feelings into those four simple words. Those grey dots danced for a while more, before fading, then reappearing, then finally resulting in a single phrase.

A sharp pain shot through his chest, tinged with anger. She had lots of reasons to stay! Her friends, like Rose, and her job… well, her customer service job was all online, but besides that there was… 

Him. 

He didn’t want her to go. From that first day he met her, elbows deep in her car engine, full of spark and fire and beauty, when he offered her a ride on his bike, though any of his buddies could have told her he never let anyone else breathe on it, let alone sit on it, something about her spoke to him. And when she showed up with homemade bread and a soft smile, when he stood in line at Resistance Roast and wondered what kind of coffee she’d like, he knew he was done for. 

How could she think there was no reason to stay?

_Possibly because you’ve never given her one?_ His inner voice snarked.

Reminding himself that she was about to go to sleep and then leave him forever unless he did something now, he quickly forced himself to type out those three small words that had been haunting him for God knows how long and then flung his phone onto the bed, awaiting the buzz that heralded her reply.

None came.

…

The next morning, he only allowed himself a small peek at his phone, the crack in his heart widening as he saw no new gray bubbles to the left of his screen.

A timid knock on his door only made him clench his jaw, anger he had long since dealt with resurfacing with a vengeance.

“Hello?”

He opened the door abruptly, sending Rey a step back. “Morning,” she ventured softly, then held out the familiar loaf-shape. “I forgot to give this to you last night, and figured I could exchange it for coffee.”

“I…” He swallowed. It was her choice to respond however she wanted. It was his to keep his temper in check. “I forgot. I just woke up.”

“Oh, no worries. I’ll just grab some on my way. I guess… I guess this is goodbye.”

Swallowing the hurt at how she was acting as if nothing had happened, he responded cooly, “I guess so. Goodbye Rey.”

And he closed his door before she could say anything else to break his heart.

…

It was hours later when he finally got up the nerve to look at the message chain again, part of him knowing it would only rub salt in his wounds, another part of him not caring.

And then he saw it.

“Shit!” He hissed, calling her number. “Shit shit shit shit sh-”

“Hi, this is Rey. Please leave your name and-”

The familiar sound of 641’s door opening sent him scrambling outside.

“Rey, please, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean-”

Ben halted as he came face to face with a concerned-looking Rose.

“Oh. It’s you.”

The petite girl crossed her arms. “Realized something, did you?”

“I… Please, I need to talk to her.”

“Yeah, well, too late Benny boy. That’s what you get for sleeping with another girl and only realizing what you could've had after she’s gone.”

It took a full minute before his brain processed her words.

“Wait, _what?”_

…

After driving for nearly nine hours, vacillating between hurt and anger and validation for her decision to leave, ignoring the four calls from Ben before he finally got the hint and gave up, Rey pulled into the cheap two-level motel in Salt Lake City and marched into her tiny room with every intention of collapsing in bed and falling asleep immediately.

Four calls? That’s all the effort she was worth to him? Seriously?

Not that it mattered. He had made his thoughts perfectly clear. Slamming the door in her face - literally, as well as figuratively, told her exactly what she needed to know.

So what if she had dreamed about hearing his voice call her name, sweetly, but also with a rough edge, somewhere in between a prayer and a-

“Rey!”

She halted, then shook her head. The exhaustion was clearly getting to her. Definitely time for bed.

“Rey! Rey, answer me! Please!”

Halfway wondering if she needed to see a doctor, she heard a gruff voice call out, “Shaddup or I’m calling the police!”

Jerking her door open, she peered out into the parking lot before her jaw dropped open. “Ben?!”

Dressed in that same damn good looking black leather jacket, he was turning his head back and forth as he stood between her car and his bike. His wild eyes snapped up to meet her, and chucking his helmet to the ground, he took the stairs three at a time to rush toward her.

“Rey, please, I just need you to look at one thing, and then if you want me to, I’ll disappear and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“I…” What on earth was she supposed to say to that? “Okay?”

He held out his phone almost pleadingly, and as she took it, she was about to tell him that she could read their whole conversation all by herself on her own damn-

She stared at the small blue bubble for a good long minute.

“Oh.”

“And Rose told me about the girl you saw, and that wasn’t me. I mean, obviously, the girl wasn’t me, but it was my friend Poe, although he’s definitely not my friend anymore, because, see, I didn’t come back early from my business trip, I just told Poe he could crash there if he needed to, and he obviously used it to score with a girl and I’m going to murder him the second I get back but I wanted to find you and tell you that I’m so sorry first and that I shouldn’t have-”

“You love me?”

Ben stopped babbling, then took a deep breath. “Yes. Very much so.”

Running her hands up along the lapels of his jacket, she placed his phone carefully into his pocket before yanking him down to her level and sealing his mouth with her own, delighting in the musky, sandalwood scent of his cologne, the cool texture of the dark leather, the way he cupped her cheek gently with one hand while the other moved to the small of her back in order to press her even closer. He growled a little as she fisted her fingers in his sinfully soft hair, finally releasing him with a pleased, primitive hum.

“Good,” she informed him a little breathlessly.

Still somewhat dazed, he blinked those whiskey brown eyes at her. “It is?”

“Yes.” She affirmed as she pulled him inside and kicked the door closed. “Very.”


End file.
